Housing sales slip by 5% year-on-year in March quarter

New Delhi: HOUSING sales dropped marginally by five per cent year-on-year during January-March 2021 to 66,176 units across eight big cities due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but demand has improved significantly in the last six months, according to real estate brokerage firm PropTiger.

The data by PropTiger, part of Elara Technologies, is in contrast with two earlier reports by Anarock and Knight Frank that suggested 29 per cent and 44 per cent growth, respectively, in sales volume during January-March period of this year across major cities.

In its report 'Real Insight- Q1CY21', PropTiger said that builders sold a total of 66,176 homes in the primary market in the January-March quarter of 2021, a decline of five per cent from 69,555 units in the year-ago period. The centre had imposed a nationwide lockdown in late March last year to curb the spread of Covid-19. "As the economy gradually marches towards recovery, the residential real estate market in the country is also seeing a positive momentum on the back of various measures taken by the centre and State governments, RBI and the entire banking system," said Dhruv Agarwala, Group CEO, Housing.com, Makaan.com and PropTiger.com.

This positive change is visible in the first quarter through an increase in supply numbers, an indication that developers are more comfortable now with regard to liquidity support and buyer sentiment, he added. "Metrics on the demand side have also been largely stable with the job market opening up again in various industries, giving people the confidence to take advantage of a property market that is at its most affordable for home buyers in years," Agarwala said. He expressed concern over the recent surge in Covid-19 infections but expects the residential market recovery to continue. As per the data, housing sales in Ahemdabad grew four per cent to 4,687 units in January-March 2021 as against 4,511 units in the corresponding period of last year.

In the Delhi-NCR market, sales rose 14 per cent to 6,188 units from 5411 units.